"Krypto the Superdog": Dog-gone Fun on DVD!

Krypto the Superdog sails onto DVD with his second volume containing five more episodes (10-12 minutes each). With this volume, Streaky gets his superpowers, Mechanicat returns and Ace the Bathound shows up for his first appearance.

The series, while meant for kids, retains a certain amount of enjoyability even for older audience members. I’m sure if I was younger (by about… a decade) I’d lap this show up and eagerly sit down for each viewing. Scripts handed in by Paul Dini or Alan Burnett seem to have a more Looney Tunes-esque feel, in that while it’s obvious the onscreen play is meant for children, there are still elements that adults can laugh at as well. It is a varied show and some episodes are clearly playschool while others are retro children’s cartoons of old.

Another plus on this show is the animation — it is quite awesome to watch, with how fluid and clean everything looks. While, of course, they are nothing amazing to look at, the designs are pleasant on the eye. The show is clearly meant for children and, though the DVD is short, it’s sure to be enjoyable for the little tykes (and for any parents who may also be superhero fans).

The DVD

Packaging is standard amaray case fare, there is no insert and the disc art is nearly identical to the cover of the DVD. The menus are also standard, featuring music playing over a static image.

Presented in 4:3 full frame, the show looks pretty darn good. Interlacing is prevalent but I’ve decided that interlacing is something you have to accept with DVD transfers of animation. Audio is strong and even comes in multiple languages plus subtitles — something fans to this day still want in full on the more adult “DC Comics Classic Collection” releases.

A misprint on the back of the cover states there is a runtime of 110 minutes on the disc. With the episodes being as short as they are and even adding in a very short five minute special feature, the real clock time is just around an hour. Quite a difference from the near two hours the disc lists.

Overall, if you were thinking about picking up the disc then you’re probably already a fan of the show or you probably have kids who enjoy it. Either way, the disc doesn’t disappoint for its audience, even though it could certainly benefit from more episodes being packed onto the disc.